Bowling ball



Patented Sept. 2, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BOWLING BALL Charles F. Chicarelll, Elizabeth, N. J.

Application February 2, 1940, Serial No. 316,907

This invention relates to bowling balls and more particularly to an improved arrangement of the openings which provide gripping surfaces to better enablethe bowler to impart an effective spin to the ball, thereby producing a desired curve or hook to `the ball as the ball nears the pins.

Most bowlers .find it desirable to impart a curve or hook to the ball causing the ball to strike at an angle between the head pin and the next adjacent right or left pin, depending on whether the bowler is right or left handed. To impart a curve to a ball, it has been customary heretofore to grip or cup the ball so as to place the center of gravity ofthe ball between the hand and the body of the bowler. In cupping the ball, it is necessary to cant or bend the wrist, and this, of course, imposes a considerable strain upon the wrist of the bowler. The bowler, however, upon releasing the ball from this grip is able, by giving his wrist a quick twist, to impart a spin to the ball. The strain of cupping the ball, together with the twisting movement of the wrist, however, results in a soreness at the w'rist which, while particularly annoying to most bowlers, also impedes their control over the ball.

While bowling balls have been proposed heretofore with the thought of enabling the bowler to e'ect the desired curve without the accompanying soreness to the wrist, none has effectively accomplished this result. With the two-hole ball the strength of the thumb and finger gripping the ball must be devoted largely to supporting the weight of the ball so that only a very small spin can be eiected by cupping without the danger of losing control over the ball. In the case of three-hole balls heretofore provided, the holes are so arranged in relative location and at such angles as to add but little advantage, if any, over the two-hole balls for those bowlers who desire to effect a spin to the ball. The third hole of the three-hole balls has been added, in most instances, to provide 'an additional means for supporting the ball with the center of'gravity of the ball toward the body of the bowler. Other three-hole balls have been ar'- ranged with holes at various angles with the allegation that the same provides for a relaxed grip in delivering the ball. But none of the threehole balls heretofore provided enables the bowler to effect any appreciable spin to the ball withoutI experiencing a corresponding loss in control over the ball.

Bearing in mind the advantage of providing a curve ball and the disadvantages of balls here- 7 claims. (ci. 27s-63') tofore provided, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bowling ball having holes therein arranged to better enable the bowler to impart a more effective spin to the ball than previously possible.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bowling ball having holes therein arranged to enable the bowler to more easily impart a desired curve to the ball with a greater degree of accuracy.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bowling ball which will enable bowlers to deliver a curve ball without the necessity of unduly canting or bending the wrist.

'Ihe above and other objects of the invention are obtained by providing the bowling ball with the thumb hole and a pair of nger holes in such an arrangement that the axis of the thumb hole lies substantially in a diametral plane with the axes of the linger holes lying on opposite sides of the diametral plane with at least one of the axes of the ilnger holes disposed substantially parallel to the diametral plane, and the surface openings of the iinger holes being spaced at different distances from the surface opening of the thumb hole. 'I'his relative location of the -several holes enables the bowler to grip the ball with the thumb and middle finger, while the ring finger is free-to engage the third hole for the purpose of imparting an eiective turning or spinning movement on the/ball as the ball is released.

Where the thumb and middle finger need not be concerned with the eiort to impart a spinning movement on the ball, the bowler is enabled to better control the delivery of the ball while effecting the desired spinning movement by exerting force by means of the ring nger substantially independent and relative to the thumb and middle finger. 'Ihe third hole which is adapted to receive and engage the ring linger is spaced forward of the hole engaged by the middle linger, thus enabling the bowler to effect a relative movement of the ring nger with respect to the middle iinger as the ball is released, thereby greatly increasing the spinning movement of the ball as compared with the use of the three-hole balls heretofore provided. A rapid spinning movement being possible with the ball of the present invention, an eiective part of the spinning movement may be transmitted. to the pins thereby engaged, causing the pins to also spin and knock down additional pins. In other words, the ball of the present invention enables the bowler to give a more eiective spin to the ball with greater ease of control.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will become further'apparent upon consideration of the following description when taken in connection `with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is aplanvie'wofabowling ballhaving thumb and finger holes arranged in accordance with the present invention:

Pig. 2 is a partial sectional view of the ball along the line 2-2 of Figure i; and

essersi i v will extend outwardly and beyond the middle finger at a diverging angle to the middle nnger. This positioning of the'iingers being natural will provide a comfortable relaxed grip on the ball so that accurate delivery with the desired curve is ll'ig.3isafragmentaryplanviewofaball showing a variation in the relative location of the finger holes.

Referring to Figs. l and 2 of the drawing. a bowling ball Ii is shown provided with a thumb hole Il and a finger hole Il whereby the ball is adapted to Ibe gripped by the thumb and middle nnger of the right hand. Beyond the hole I4 is a third hole Il adapted to be engaged by the ring finger for the purpose of steadying the ball and imparting a rapid spinning movement to the ball as the ball is released from the thumb and middle nnger.

In order to arrange the thumb and nnger holes in a relation which provides the desired grip, the axes of the thumb and middle nnger holes should lie in planes substantially parallel to each other with the ring finger hole spaced beyond and a little to one side of the middle finger hole. I obtain this relation by drilling the thumb hole I2 with the axis I3 thereof in a diametral plane A-A substantially in the direction of the center 2l of the ball. 'Ihe middle finger hole Il is drilled slightly to one side of the diametral plane with the axis I5 thereof in a plane substantially parallel to the diametral plane. The direction of the axis I! may extend in the general direction of a diametral line B--B disposed at 90 to the diametral plane AA. 'I'he distance between the surface openings ofthe holes I2 and I4, as well as the angle between the axes I3 and II thereof, may, however, be varied to accommodate different sized hands. For example, were planes passed through the axes of the holes I2 and Il transversely of the diametral plane A-A, the angle therebetween might be varied between 58 and 84 and still provide a comfortably relaxed grip for the hand.

The third hole I8 is preferably located beyond the hole Il with a surface thereof in tangential relation with the diametral plane A-A. While the hole I6 is preferably slightly spaced beyond a line C-C drawn tangentially to the forward edge of the hole I4 and transversely of the diametral plane A-A, the hole It may also be located in tangential relation to the line C-C as shown in Figure 3, if desired.

While the hole I I is shown to be partly intersected by the diametral plane A-A in Fig. 1, it is to be understood that under certain circumstances the hole Il may be drilled so that the plane A-A will be substantially tangent to the surface thereof. In Fig. 3 the plane A-Ais shown as being tangent to the opposed lateral surfaces of the openings Ila and IIa. The spacing between the finger holes in the direction of the plane A--A may also be varied as indicated in Fig. 3. It should. therefore, be understood that the relative positioning of the finger holes with respect to directions transverse and parallel to feasible. With the holes thus arranged. the ring finger is capable of steadying the bail while the ball is swung by the bowler preparatory to delivery, and upon release from the thumb and middle nnger, the ring finger may be drawn inwardly ofthe hand so as to elect a rapid counterclockwise spinning movement to the ball. 'lhe usual upward and lateral swinging movement of the hand and arm may also be employed to assist this finger movement. l

The spinning movement which `is greatly enhanced bythe positioning of the hole Il with respect to the hole Il may be added to the cupping effect to impart even a greater spin to the ball. Thus, bowlers accustomed to cupping the the plane A--A may be considerably varied as y suggested in Figs. 1 and 3 to suit the hands of diiferent bowlers.

The hole I6 is preferably drilled so that the axis I1 thereof diverges with respect to the axes ball will find they are able by the arrangement of the holes in the ball of the present invention to increase the spinning effect. The bowler, if

yhe so desires, may cup `the ball with less bending of the `wrist and at 'the same time give the ball a more effective spinning movement than possible with balls heretofore provided.

In the case of left handed bowlers, the location of the finger holes will, of course, be reversed with respect to the diametral plane A-A.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that many variations are possible in the present invention, such as variations in the relative positioning of the holes I 4 and Ii with respect to the diametral plane A--A and the line C--C without departing from the spirit of the invention. For this reason, it should be understood that the forms of the invention herein illustrated and described are intended to be illustrative of the invention only and not as limiting the scope thereof.

I claim:

l. A bowling ball having a substantially cylindrical thumb hole `and a pair of substantially cylindrical finger holes therein, the axis of the thumb hole lying substantially in a diametral plane, the axes of said pair of finger holes being on opposite sides of thev diametral plane with at least one of the axes of said finger holes lying in a plane substantially parallel to said diametral plane and the surface openings of said finger holes being spaced apart along said diametral plane so that the ring linger of a bowler will be in a position forward of the middle finger.

2. A bowling ball having a substantially cylindrical thumb hole and a pair of substantially cylindrical nger holes therein, the axis of the thumb hole lying substantially in a diametral plane, and the surface openings of said finger holes being spaced apart along said diametral plane with the intermediate finger hole partly intersected by said diametral plane and the forwardmost linger hole located in substantial tangential relation with said diametral plane.

3. A bowling ball having a substantially cylindrical thumb hole and a pair of substantially cylindrical finger holes therein, the axis of the thumb hole lying substantially in a `diametral plane with the axis of at least one of said nger holes lying in a plane substantially parallel to said diametral plane, one of the linger holes being at least in part intersected by said diametral plane,l and the other of said finger holes being in substantial tangential relation with said diametral plane.

4. A bowling ball having a substantially cylindrical thumb hole and a pair of substantially cylindrical finger holes therein, and the surface openings of all three holes being so disposed that they are interceptable by the same great circle.

5. A bowling ball having a substantially cylindrical thumb hole and a pair of substantially cylindrical finger holes therein, the axis of the thumb hole lying substantially in a diametral plane, and the surface openings of said pair of holes being spaced -apart along and tangent to said diametral plane.

6. A bowling ball having a substantially cylindrical thumb hole and a pair of substantially cylindrical finger holes therein, the axis of the thumb hole lying substantially in a diametral plane, and the axes of said pair of finger holes being on opposite sides of the diametral plane with the surface openings of' said pair of holes spaced apart along said diametral plane, the axes of the thumb hole and the intermediate finger hole being in an inward direction converging toward each other, while the axis of the forwardmost hole is in an inward direction diverging from the axis of the intermediate finger hole, the divergency being parallel to the diametral plane.

7. A bowling ball having a substantially cylindrical thumb hole and a pair of substantially cylindrical finger holes for the middle and ring fingers respectively, the axis of the thumb hole lying substantially in a -diametral plane, and the axes of said pair of finger holes being on opposite sides of the diametral plane, and the surface openings of said ring finger and middle finger holes being spaced apart and in overlapping relation in a direction along said diametral plane so that the ring finger is adapted to extend considerably beyond the middle finger during gripping of the ball, thereby enabling the ring nger to be moved through a substantially larger arc than the middle finger to exert a definite spinning torque or movement to the ball upon-release thereof.

CHARLES F. CHICARELLI. 

